1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and device which couples the production of sound with motion. In particular, it relates to a method and device for producing sound responsive to x-y-z co-ordinate movement.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Many devices are known in the art to produce sounds. The coupling of sounds of different pitch, frequency, and volume results in what we refer to as music. Studies have shown that music can have a profound effect on the human psyche. A common effect of music is to cause people to move various parts of their body, primarily the hands and legs, in conjunction with the rhythm of the music.
People also respond to certain sounds not considered music with physical motions. For example, persons in a movie often react to the sound of fist fighting by moving their own arms. The physiological reasons for these reactions are not entirely understood. Numerous means have been devised in the art to elicit physical reaction to sound, for example, interactive video-audio games.
Physical manipulations have been used for centuries to produce sounds and music. However, until very recently the production of sound by such physical manipulations generally has been limited to manipulations specifically directed towards a device for producing set sounds.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,324 to Zwosta describes a method and apparatus for generating acoustic effects without directing physical manipulations toward a sound producing device. According to the 4,627,324 invention, any desired number of transducers are attached to the human body which transducers cause characteristic electrical signals to be generated upon characteristic human body actions. The characteristic electrical signals are transmitted to signal generators via a logic circuitry. The signal generators provide electrical signals associated with the human body actions and are transmitted to electro/acoustic and/or electro/visual converting means.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,905,560, 4,977,811 and 5,022,303 describe musical tone control apparatuses for mounting on a person's limbs which are responsive to bending angles. U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,560 describes a musical tone control apparatus detecting means for detecting movement of a player's elbow and/or shoulder joint and the movement of a player's wrist and/or each finger joint. U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,811 discloses an angle sensor for attachment to an articulating joint of the human body comprising a pair of plate members coupled pivotally around an axis parallel to both faces of the plate members. U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,303 describes use of a bending angle sensor to control the tone pitch of a musical tone by judging the increasing or decreasing tendency of the bending angle based on present angle input and a prior angle input.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,005,460, 5,151,553 and 5,125,313 describe mechanisms for detecting movement of the digits of the hand. U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,460 describes a joint switch mechanism for attachment to the fingers. Such joint switches are mounted at a joint portion of each finger member and are turned on when the corresponding finger is bent. U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,553 describes digit members worn along the fingers which contract and expand in longitudinal directions of the digit members in response to the bending and straightening of the fingers. Digit members are made to bend about the axes positioned on the third joint of the fingers or the second joint of the thumb in order to make bending of the digit easier. U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,313 describes a finger detecting means for detecting the variable degree of the positions of a player's fingers and for detecting the variable degree of pressure applied by the fingers of a player's hand. A holder providing four voltage generators which is placed on the thumb with a plurality of strings emanating therefrom are disclosed for mounting on a player's hand.
In order to avoid unwanted pitch bender and/or vibrato functions owing to unintended motions, U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,096 describes a control signal generation means which provides for a musical control signal only at certain predetermined touch intensities below which no musical control signal is generated.
Several motion-to-sound devices responsive to motion but which are not designed for attachment to the body are known. Probably among the simplest of these is the maraca, a rattle-like gourd. Electronic-based devices activated by swinging are also known. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,995,294, 5,127,213, and 5,350,881 to Kashio describe a striker resembling a drumstick which is designed to produce sounds upon activation of a musical sound-initiating command signal-generating device. A simple contact-style switch is disclosed in all three patents to be housed within the head of the drumstick. U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,823 discloses a musical tone apparatus including at least one stick to be held by a person's hand and at least one detector to be attached to a person's leg. The stick and detector are respectively equipped with sensors each detecting a physical parameter accompanied with a movement thereof.
More complex devices which are not dependent on simple switch mechanisms are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,313. The 5,125,313 patent describes an embodiment wherein the use of bone conduction microphones are used to adjudge motion by picking up vibrational tones of the bones as a person moves.
Several problems are associated with present day motion-to-sound devices. Devices coupled to the body tend to be cumbersome and annoying, thereby inhibiting to a significant extent the enjoyment produced by using the device. Devices designed to be activated by swinging the arm, while much less unwieldy, tend to be monotonous permitting only but a few timbres for a given musical note. None of these devices provide the degree of spatially-separated musical repertoire, such as note, pitch, tone, tone color, timbre, and volume variability, which are desired in using such devices. Rather, variation of such repertoire is generally limited by present day devices to, at most, defined planes.
The 5,125,313 patent, described above with reference to simple and more complex actuating devices, attempts to broaden the degree of musical repertoire available to a person using a motion-to-sound device in describing an embodiment employing the use of ultrasonic transmitting/receiving devices coupled to the body of a player. Such embodiment provides for a means for determining the distance between the transmitter and receiver based on the period of time between when the ultrasonic transmitter transmits an ultrasonic wave and the ultrasonic receiver receives the wave, thus, in theory, permitting a larger number of distinguishable actuations than simple contact-style switches. The distance differential is used to control the tone produced by a musical tone signal generating device.
The ultrasonic distance-measurement embodiment of the 5,125,313 patent also suffers from several drawbacks. For one, such system requires employment of relatively complex and exacting signal-processing techniques. Furthermore, such embodiment requires that the transmitter be positioned such that the receiver will always receive the transmitted signal regardless of the motion performed--this may be quite difficult. Distance measurements may be significantly effected by signals bouncing off masses in the vicinity of the person and may not truly reflect the distance between the transmitter and receiver. This approach also suffers from the disadvantage that a plurality of coordinate positions will eventuate in the same actuation, that is will produce the same distance between the transmitter and receiver, thereby failing to distinguish distinctly different 3-D spatial locations in which actuation of different tones may be desired. Lastly, this approach continues to envision such instrumentation being attached to the body, such attachment in some cases, as stated above, inhibiting the enjoyment of the device.
Presently available motion-to-sound devices may also be said to suffer from an intrinsic deficit with respect to their sound-generation design. Such design continues to think in terms of notes and tones, as if an actual instrument was being played. The fact is that most people are not musicians, and that the musically-disinclined tire quickly of attempting to order tones and sounds in succession in such a way that a pleasing melodic sound is produced. Furthermore, with present day electronic motion-to-sound devices which produce a variety of tones, the player must take time to familiarize himself with the sound produced by a particular motion. The relationship between a spatial orientation and the sound produced is often not intuitive or psychologically appealing. Enjoyment value of motion-to-sound devices could considerably be enhanced if the sound-generation devices employed musical scores and accompaniments which a person could relate to, rather than simple notes and tones that often represent an abstraction. Furthermore, enjoyment would be enhanced if the device could relate discrete spatial movements to particular intuitive sounds. For example, lifting of the leg in a quick jerky motion could eventuate in the sound of a "kick." Likewise, moving the arm rapidly in an upward motion could eventuate in the sound of a "punch." Volume and pitch could also be adjusted in an intuitive manner --motion directed upward causing an increase in volume and/or pitch, a motion directed downward causing a decrease in volume and/or pitch.
While, heretofore, motion-to-sound devices have not found application beyond their entertainment value, such devices also may have wider uses. These devices may lend enjoyment not only to the hearing, but portend usefulness in aiding people who are unable to enjoy sound due to a hearing deficit. Such persons often are unable to communicate with others except by means of physical manipulation of body parts, especially the arms and hands. In particular, languages referred to as "sign languages" have evolved which permit communication without the need for verbalization. A major problem with sign languages is that they require the person to whom the communication is directed to understand what each physical manipulation means. Heretofore, there has been no means of converting such manipulations into verbalizations.